I want to apologize,
first and foremost, for taking so long between entries. In March my schedule
changed, and with the increase in teaching hours I am exhausted by the time I
get home. It's not an excuse, but I'm using it as one.
One of the new things I
have noticed about Korea, which I've noticed since the beginning of my time here
but haven't yet written about, is that by American standards Koreans are
extraordinarily rude. Culturally things are very different here in unexpected
ways. For example, lines don't actually exist. People will walk right in front
of you, and you basically have to push your way to the front or get pushed out
of the way all together. Even my Koreans friends will walk in front of me if I
don't push forward quickly enough. At stoplights, cars can go around the line
and cut in front of the left turn lane, into the middle of the intersection.
While waiting at a bus stop people will shove you aside to get on before you.
Another example of what we would view as rudeness in the states: walking down
the street people will bang into you hard enough to knock you over, but they
won't apologize or acknowledge it. On the subway, men will push you out of the
way to get to an open seat before you do. Men who are getting on the train when
I'm trying to get off have literally shoved me back onto the train so they can
get on more quickly. At first it was hard to get used to, but now it's become
almost expected. Almost.
Since the last time I
wrote I have discovered a magical new area of Korea. It's called the US Air
Force Base in Songtan, and it's essentially a tiny slice of America set in the
middle of South Korea. There is a Taco Bell there. A TACO BELL. I can get
American products there, and everyone speaks English, and nobody stares at me because
I look different from them. Shannon and
I have started hanging out with a group of the Air Force guys that we met
through Holly's husband. The main problem I have been having in Korea is the
lack of variety in food, but on and around the base you can find any type of
food you want. There's a decent Mexican restaurant and an amazing gyro place,
plus good Thai. After so long spent somewhere so different from home, it's
seems magical to take a short subway ride and arrive somewhere so much more
familiar. It makes me miss home because it's so close without actually having
the people I love, but at the same time it definitely makes it easier to handle
a week of non-stop Korean culture when I have that outlet on the weekend.
Amanda, Shannon, and I
went and saw the cherry blossoms last weekend at a local university, and they
were absolutely beautiful. They are a
big deal here, and there were tons of people walking around, spending an
afternoon looking at the multitude of pink petal covered trees reaching up
toward the perfectly blue sky. There are
cherry trees all around the country, lining streets, on school campuses, in the
parks. It was a nice, relaxing way to
spend an afternoon with a few friends.
Also, our schedules
changed, so I have twelve new kindergartners, twelve Grade 1 kids and four kids
of scattered older ages. Five of the Grade 1 kids are mine from last year, two
were Tara's, and four were from Cally's kindergarten last year. There aren't
many of them that set themselves apart.
They’re all great though, and I can tell that I’m really going to enjoy teaching
that Grade 1 class.
I have a new kid named
Jun, but this one is ADORABLE, unlike the similarly named Junsung from last
year. This kid is dumb as rocks, but cute as a button. He’s already been
studying English for a year, and today I gave him the assignment to draw a
picture of himself as a baby and then a picture of him today. He came back to
me with a picture of a tiger and a picture of a car. Well, sure. Okay, Jun.
That's nice.
I've got another one
named Peter who is beyond brilliant. The kid can read everything no problem, do
any math problem you put in front of him, and speak with near perfect diction
and grammar. He self corrects when he makes grammatical mistakes. He is polite
and sweet. I'm trying to find the pod he came out of and see if there are any
more children left in it that I can bring home.
Andy is the clingiest
child I've ever come across in my life. He literally attaches himself to me in
any way he possibly can. He grabs my leg, wraps his arms around my waist and
his legs around my thigh, jumps up so I'm wearing him like a fanny pack with
his legs around my waist, sits in my lap any time I stop moving. Once I was
crouched in front of another student's desk helping them with their math work
and he came over from his desk with his math book, sat on me while I was
crouching down, and tried to sit there and do his math work on his lap. He
almost tipped me over. This is the same
kid who was constantly touching me and being physical when I taught Thor’s
class for a few weeks back when I first started at this school, so I expected
this sort of behavior and affection.
All in all I really like
my new classes and I think they will be a lot of fun. I’ll let you know how things develop!
